Upgrading from Fiesta to a SUV/Crossover

[Warz]

My partner and I have decided to buy a bigger car and have decided to look into getting a SUV of some sort. (she has mobility issues so getting in a SUV is a lot easier too)

We live in London so do not want anything massive but we do a lot of camping trips and outdoorsy roadtrips up North that are often a few weeks long so we need to be able to fit all our crap.

A lot of the places we camp are on farmlands and have had to turn back a few times to some routes we were interested in because our Fiesta could not make it. Something with 4wd/4x4 would be preferable.

We arent looking for any Wrangler style offroading, not even sure the UK offers any tracks that would need one tbh.



We have about £15-20k to spend.



I have made a list of cars that we are interested in but not really sure about reliability of them or maintenance cost. Something reliable or cheap to service is ideal, so no Jeeps or German cars.



This is what I got so far, sorted by Ground Clearance...



Volvo xc60 2014-2017

Length 4644mm, Width 1891mm

Ground Clearance 230mm

Boot 495/1455 L



Subaru Forester 2013-2016(FF)-2019

Length 4,600, Width 1,800

Ground Clearance 220mm

Boot 422-505/1481-1575 L



Land Rover Freelander 2 2011-2013(FL)-2015

Length 4500mm, Width 1910mm

Ground Clearance 220mm

Boot 405/1670 L



Nissan Xtrail 2014-2017(FL)

Length 4,641mm, Width 1,820

Ground Clearance 210mm

Boot 550/1982 L



Mazda CX-5 2012-2015(FL)-2017

Length 4,560mm, Width 1840mm

Ground Clearance 150-210mm(preFL)

Boot 505/1620 L



Suzuki Grand Vitara 2006-2009(FL1)-2012(FL2)-2015

Length 4500mm, Width 1880mm

Ground Clearnace 200mm

Boot 398/1386 L



Suzuki Vitara 2015+

Length 4175mm, Width 1775mm

Ground Clearance 185mm

Boot 375/710 L



Honda CR-V 2012-2015(FL)-2018

Length 4,570mm, Width 1,820

Ground Clearance 170mm

Boot 590/1670 L



Toyota Rav4 2013-2016(FL)-2019

Length 4,661mm, Width 1844mm

Ground Clearance 155-160mm(preFL)

Boot 550-577/1776 L

[raining_sulphur]

My wife upgrade from a fiesta to a Kadjar two years ago. Absolutely adores it, and according to her it has the largest boot space in its class. 1.5d auto, I have to admit it’s quite lush to drive, well specced and within your budget.

[Jag_NE]

With those big motorway runs it would be a diesel auto every time for me. Ideally the Volvo as it’s a cut above most of the others, you will need to make sure it’s a euro6 version.

[oop north]

We are just getting rid of a 2008 freelander 2 and have replaced with a 2013 version (both hse auto). The engine is a bit agricultural but both are very comfortable - seats great, ride good. The new one quietens down v nicely on a motorway run (old one has a fair bit of road / tyre noise but managed 250 miles today v comfortably). Economy not great. If it were my choice I would have got her a Subaru forester but never one for sale near enough to get her in to try (she has sciatica / bad back and comfort v v important) to see if comfy

[nickfrog]

The Yeti is the only acceptable one, apparently.

[RSTurboPaul]

How much is the new Suzuki Jimny?

[scoey1001]

Kia Sportage with the long warranty?

[Warz]

raining_sulphur said:

My wife upgrade from a fiesta to a Kadjar two years ago. Absolutely adores it, and according to her it has the largest boot space in its class. 1.5d auto, I have to admit it’s quite lush to drive, well specced and within your budget.

I have not looked at the Kadjar as it seems like a Qashqai/Juke style car but i will have a look, maybe its enough.
The Koleos is apparently basically a X trail which seems great.
For some reason they only do the sunroof for 2WD models which I think is a bit daft....

Jag_NE said:

With those big motorway runs it would be a diesel auto every time for me. Ideally the Volvo as it’s a cut above most of the others, you will need to make sure it’s a euro6 version.

The thing is, we will be using it for inner London driving most of the time and only driving big motorway runs a few times a year (15-20?)
Would it still be worth getting a Diesel? If so itl probably need to be 2016+ to meet the ULEZ requirements.

oop north said:

We are just getting rid of a 2008 freelander 2 and have replaced with a 2013 version (both hse auto). The engine is a bit agricultural but both are very comfortable - seats great, ride good. The new one quietens down v nicely on a motorway run (old one has a fair bit of road / tyre noise but managed 250 miles today v comfortably).

I really like the Freelander 2 but am worried about reliability due to it being a Land Rover, although I have heard its one of the more reliable ones.

oop north said:

If it were my choice I would have got her a Subaru forester but never one for sale near enough to get her in to try (she has sciatica / bad back and comfort v v important) to see if comfy

I am going to take my partner to a Subaru dealer next week for this very reason.
We were able to try out a very wide range of cars at the London Car Giant but unfortunately they did not have any Subarus so we will have to drive out to find one.

nickfrog said:

The Yeti is the only acceptable one, apparently.

I absolutly hate the Yeti! If this was 2021 I would go for a older Kodiaq/Karoq, those are fantastic!

RSTurboPaul said:

How much is the new Suzuki Jimny?

You have no idea how much I would love one of these!
The waiting list is about 1-2 years atm (3 in some countries). I think they are not even accepting anyone onto the list anymore from what I have read.
Also, I wish they were a tad bit bigger, 80l boot space with seats up is useless...

scoey1001 said:

Kia Sportage with the long warranty?

The warranty is a big plus but its a Kia.
Maybe I need to look into them some more because I know they have upped their game.
The Ground clearance is around 175mm so still higher than the CRV/Rav4
I will consider it, thanks.

Edited by Warz on Monday 8th April 22:52

[WonkeyDonkey]

raining_sulphur said:

My wife upgrade from a fiesta to a Kadjar two years ago. Absolutely adores it, and according to her it has the largest boot space in its class. 1.5d auto, I have to admit it’s quite lush to drive, well specced and within your budget.

I cant really help at all but I've never known why people need autos for motorway runs. Surely you leave it in top gear for pretty much the whole motorway journey.

I'd want a auto more from busy city driving to save constantly clutching up n down.

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd see this as Ford Kuga in Titanium X Sport 180:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

The Hyundai Tucson with the 1.6T engine is a great buy along with the long warranty with & great spec they make good buys.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Or the Kia Sportage with the same engine:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

The CX-5 is a very good car I just feel the above are better petrol options:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

The XC60 will be hard to find in petrol form:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

But in D5 diesel form you should be able to get a Euro6 diesel version that means the ULEZ won't be an issue:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

or the D4

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Another very good but underrated (imo it's better than the XC60 & Edge) SUV is the very hard to find Infiniti QX50 in either GT or GT Premium spec:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

A very good spacious option is the Ford Edge in Titanium spec:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[Warz]

Thanks, those are some good ones to consider, I think Ill go have another browse at the Car Giant and check them all out.

Which of the cars in this whole thread would be best for mild offroading? (nothing major)
Or will they all be fine for what I will be doing?

[ninjag]

Forget the CRV, the awd system (especially the 4th gen) is a driving aid only. Open diffs with no abs intervention to simulate lsd/locking diff means you need traction with both tyres on an axle otherwise you ain't going anywhere.

So if a wheel on the front axle and a wheel on the rear axle both have no traction, such as slipping into a rut along the side of the road, then you are stuck.

Also the 4th gen which you have listed uses a lightweight electronic rear differential and can't take enough torque to be useful. It shuts down quickly to prevent overheating.

5th gen is much better but very expensive.

I'd be looking at the XC60 D5 as Volvo tend to have very good seats which your partner will appreciate and the interior finish will be good. AWD ability should be more than enough as well.

Edited by ninjag on Monday 8th April 23:55

[Warz]

ninjag said:

I'd be looking at the XC60 D5 as Volvo tend to have very good seats which your partner will appreciate and the interior finish will be good. AWD ability should be more than enough as well.

Edited by ninjag on Monday 8th April 23:55

Yes, atm my main 2 choices are the xc60 or the Forester.
I am quite worried about all the horror stories of CVTs so the Forester is slightly behind the xc60, although they are quite a bit cheaper.

[nickfrog]

Warz said:

nickfrog said:

The Yeti is the only acceptable one, apparently.

I absolutly hate the Yeti! If this was 2021 I would go for a older Kodiaq/Karoq, those are fantastic!

They should already be within your budget. We have the 1.5 150ps Karoq and it's a brilliant steer that renders diesel obsolete too unless you do mega miles.

[ehonda]

We have a 2018 Sportage and are just back from a week in the lakes (from Hants), it coped well enough with 3 adults, 2 kids, 3 dogs and a roofbox. It's comfortable enough that I drove all 300+ miles home on Saturday and didn't feel any worse for it.
So my advice is .... buy the Volvo
The kia was my wife's choice as she was insistent on Petrol for some reason.
Previously I had an xc70, that was rather nice.